Summary: Public opinion can help to both shape and inform public policy. A president with strong approval numbers across ideological divides has significant scope to make policy decisions. While a national consensus on an issue can both help to facilitate policy options and limit the scope for compromise on critical foreign policy issues. To discuss this important aspect of the policy process, Korean Kontext sat down with Karl Friedhoff of the Asan Institute for Policy Studies to discuss the favorability of the new Park Geun-hye administration, the future influence of the United States and China on global affairs, as well as the prospect of a new norm in Korea-Japan relations.
